i just opened the thread, "WHO RUNS TRACK DAYS" and i saw that oil in the pan was a problem. people running low oil just to keep from the oil being sucked up in the PVC valve or something. please correct me. now what i want to know is if the moroso oil pan would make track days more fun without having to worry about splashing oil etc. if anyone runs one of these let me know and everyone else if it was worth it. also about how much do they run. moroso is a good name, so im sure its not crap.
kris

 

From what I've read, the design of the oil pan it doesn't let the engine fit properly in the FD engine bay.

 

I believe the oil pan Moroso makes is for a 13B, not a 13B-REW. I saw it advertised in some places for an FD but I think its really meant for Rx-3's and 4's set up for drag racing and have swapped out engines.

 

I run solo's and track days and use a stock oil pan,but run a moroso baffle plate and an accumilator, they are avalible for 12-A's and 13-B's and will save your motor big time on the track! I think they are a must have if you push the car hard,street or track.The plate is easy to install,just drop the pan,clean the gasket off it and the "block" put a gasket between the plate and pan and 1 more between the plate and block.No more oil slosh!With a turbo it works even better,as it breaks up the air bubbles that get into the oil as it goes through the rotors and turbo.I can't remember if the 3rd gen's oil pan bolt patt. is the same as the early 13-B's,I know the pan is different.I would E-MAIL moroso's tech line for the proper answ.

 

I was one of the "run the oil level low at the track" posters. I firmly believe that it is important to get oil to the engine at all times and especially when racing, but I also haven't heard of any oil-related failures besides someone losing an oil line and not realizing it until they got to their destination. I lost the oil drain plug going up the hill to the corkscrew at Laguna Seca, and did not hurt anything driving the rest of the lap easily and bringing the car into the pit (as a later rebuild showed no oil problems). For whatever reason (good stock oil pan design?) the FD does not seem to have oil starvation problems, even when you run the oil level a little low. For that reason, it is my opinion that money would be better spent on other things.

-Max

 

The FD pan has baffles built into it.

 

if you lower you oil level it might be good to run a premix in you fuel to help make up. Its cheap and effective

Later,
STEPHEN

 

I have been following this oil level and pan debate. My question is about running oil levels low. Wouldn't it be best to keep the oil levels as high as possible for lower oil temps? Or does the oil get so hot it doesn't matter?

Seems like the more oil you have to circulate the lower its temp would stay.

 

Running your oil level low can lead to catastrophic engine failure. Make no mistake, our engines NEED oil, and if you run too low your engine *could* fail. Consider that if you run low already, and are at the track (which increases oil consumption simply due to the hard driving *and* because the FD's are meant to consume some oil) and if you lose your drain plug or an oil line and don't know it, you're looking at a new engine (not to mention being kicked the heck off the track).

A friend of mine ran low on oil one time too many and his 93 R1 has been sitting in his garage for >2 years (no money to rebuild it...this guy has had the worst luck being laid off...3x in 2001 ).

Anyway, the moral of the story is, run ~4 quarts of oil and check your dipstick often and you'll be fine. I ran a full 4 quarts at Thunderhill and experienced no problems when doing so, and I felt a lot better knowing that I was full rather than having to worry constantly about the oil level.

 

The 13b-rew also have a high-pressure oiling system for the reason of going ON the track. I have to dig up my notes and figure out where I read it, but Mazda specifically designed our engines to ensure they don't fail due to oil starvation. They actually designed it, I THINK, so that even if you are pulling 1.5gs, you will still have sufficient oil distributed throughout the engine. I don't remember the exact number, but they DID build it so that it can withstand over 1g of corning without oil problems.

It's good to see they didn't skimp out on our oil delivery system . Unlike other things.....

 

In a rotary there is absoloutly no reason to run a low oil level! It is sometimes done in a piston engine so that the crank doesn't have to run through the oil in the pan costing you about 5-10 H.P.but pistion engine guys that do it run an accumilator.The rotary allready has the rotational ***. and oil seperated by the bottoms of the housing,but running a quart low of oil adds to the risk of uncovering the oil pickup in a high G-load corner.Not to forget running less oil will drive oil and rotor temps alot higher, the last thing you want on a turbo too,as it can lead to broken apex seals and chater marks on rotor housings turning them in to paper weights

 

It is a fact experienced by just about everyone that tracks an FD that you will get smoke and a mess of oil all over the engine if you run the oil level full. This is the only reason I suggest running the level low -- to avoid the confusion caused by the smoke and the mess caused by oil on the engine.

My recommendation is also that you check the oil before you go out onto the track each time to make sure it is about halfway up the dipstick hash area. Don't be an idiot and run the oil really low. If the oil level light comes on, come into the pit and fill it up. I have never experienced the low oil level light, but it is at least there as an indicator if you forget to set the level before you go out. If you over-fill it for the conditions at hand, it will find its way to the "right" level anyway -- just be prepared for some clean-up and possibly some smoke.

Does this strategy present a problem that you should spend time and money to fix? There are a few things you can do like get a catch can or fool with the PCV valve plumbing, but I don't think getting a new oil pan would be a wise allocation of one's limited resources. It would be fixing (maybe, maybe not) a problem that doesn't need to be fixed. That is all I am saying.

Why do I think it is okay to run the level a little low? Because in all my experiences of talking with people who track their FDs, no one I know has ever lost engine due to oil starvation, and most of them run the oil level a little low. It is a non-problem.

-Max

 

I always start with the R1 full (6 qts including the oil coolers) and after a couple of lapping sessions it's always lost about 1/2 quart. From that point on, almost no oil blows out except for an ounce or so per session. This is a '93, pretty much stock. One of these days I'll wise up and start out with 5 1/2 quarts. YMMV.

Ned M.

 

The reason you guys are losing oil is in a hard left hand turn the oil sloshes over to the right side of pan and climbs up the side of the housing to the pcv vent were manifold vac. pulls it in.fb's,fc's and fd's all have this problem thats why I put in an oil pan baffle plate on my race car(fb) put one on my bud's fd and it solved this prob. now we both can run full oil pan levels and saw a 30% reduction in oil temps.and no more pumping oil out the tail pipe!It's not an expensive fix. About $35 for the plate from moroso 2 oil pan gaskets and about 2 hours under a car if your taking 2 beer breaks and 1 smoke break.